Thanks to ongoing philanthropic support, Kingsley’s four-year partnership with Lesley University’s Center for Mathematics Achievement had a highly productive launch in 2022–2023, with equally promising aspirations for 2023–2024.
 

Year One: Setting the Stage

Year One saw our Lesley University partners on campus, observing classes, interviewing teachers, assessing our needs, and working with our faculty to articulate our priorities and identify a new mathematics curriculum. 

After months of study, they presented a slate of potential new curricula. The Kingsley elementary faculty unanimously chose Illustrative Mathematics (IM)Ⓡ, an “innovative problem-based K–12 curriculum… designed to energize math classrooms and equip students with critical skills, understandings, and practices that can benefit them for a lifetime.” IM is a rigorous and robust curriculum that will support our students in developing a deep conceptual understanding of math. 

Per Claire Harris, Director of Elementary Education, “We also developed the mathematics scope and sequence for Grades 3-5, with the ultimate goal of revising mathematics benchmarks for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. These align with and elevate Kingsley’s process-oriented educational model. Finally, we produced Kingsley’s first school wide Math Charter.”

Year Two: New Methods and Practices

2023–2024 is the rollout year for Illustrative Mathematics in Grades 3–6. On-campus coaching sessions assist teachers with adaptation and implementation of IM, alternating between two modes—grade-level unit previews aligned to scope and sequence; and coaches and teachers collaborating on co-planning and co-teaching lessons. 

For First and Second Grades, our faculty and coaches are developing Kingsley Math Albums, merging Montessori math with elements of Illustrative Mathematics to create our own, uniquely impactful, Kingsley Math Program. 

Shelby Strong, Elementary and Secondary Math Consultant at the Center for Mathematics Achievement, explains the progress underway in the classroom: “Kingsley’s new math program is more constructivist in nature. Students are engaging in inquiry and establishing their own understanding of math in a way that fosters critical thinking and problem solving skills. There will be more opportunity for collaborative problem solving and kids learning from one another.” Reflecting on the long term implications of these programmatic advancements, Tara Hofherr, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Next School Counseling, says: “Our students’ abilities to think critically, reason abstractly, and apply their mathematical thinking to real world problems will help them be successful as math becomes more complex in middle school, high school, and beyond.”

Melding IM and Montessori Math

In her presentation to Kingsley families this fall, Ms. Strong delved into why this curriculum shift is so impactful for our students: “As the outcomes and applications of math education have changed, so have the aspirations about teaching math evolved. In Maria Montessori’s day, math was taught in algorithms. There was no emphasis on deep conceptual understanding—the focus was on memorization. Dr. Montessori found ways to make algorithms tangible through physical materials. Today, math educators have a better understanding of how people learn math. We appreciate the enduring value of Dr. Montessori’s approach, while recognizing that some elements of a comprehensive mathematics education fall outside of traditional Montessori math. Illustrative Mathematics is an ideal bridge between our foundational Montessori approach and the robust benchmarks we have affirmed for Kingsley students.”

Ms. Hofherr affirms that Montessori math has served us well in some ways, and has continued value at Kingsley. “Thanks to Montessori math, our students are strong computationalists. IM is providing a platform to strengthen their capacities as conceptual mathematicians and problem solvers.” 

Reflecting on this pilot year, Lower Elementary teacher Kelsey Iwanicki says, “The IM teaching points are really helpful. I love the updated scope and sequence for Third Graders.” She feels that “IM allows students to gain a deep understanding of what they are doing,” and that the new curriculum and benchmarks will increase continuity between Lower and Upper Elementary. This echoes a key aspiration of our Strategic Plan to solidify the academic throughlines between three-year cycle divisions. For Ms. Iwanicki, the introduction of Illustrative Mathematics is a welcome opportunity to deepen her teaching practice: “I truly love learning how children learn—the science of reading, writing, and math.” 

Thank You to Our Partners and Collaborators

Generous support from Dr. Christine Olsen and Mr. Robert Small makes possible this partnership with Lesley University’s Center for Mathematics Achievement. We are grateful to them for their vision and belief in Kingsley teachers and students. 

This project is being facilitated by Shelby Strong, Elementary and Secondary Math Consultant at the Lesley University Center for Mathematics Achievement, in collaboration with Tara Hofherr, and Claire Harris, and in consultation with Pete Zetlan, Director of Early Childhood and Montessori Education. 

Much appreciation is due to our Elementary teachers, who are carrying out this transition. Tara Hofherr applauds them “for the essential role they play in this project and for their continued commitment to being the best educators possible, modeling what it means to be lifelong learners. They are leading by example, demonstrating grace, flexibility, and a growth mindset as they think expansively about the needs of their students.”

Looking Ahead

Going forward, we will be revising mathematics benchmarks for Kindergarten through 6th Grade, and updating the math curriculum down to Grade 1 in 2024–2025. Stay tuned for further updates on this exciting initiative and thank you, again, to everyone who is making it possible.